-----Original Message----- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Euan Ritchie Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 7:10 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: the Cold War
> So, if the US didn't fight the cold war, let it's military expenditures fall > to the present level of Europe, didn't develop the B52 or ICBMs, stand aside > where it fought in Korea, let missiles remain in Cuba and be expanded, > didn't fight to stop the multiple Marxist COIN operations throughout the > world that failed (e.g Greece), nothing much different would have > happened...the US's position in 1995 would be no worse than it was as > history actually unfolded. >You're taking some peoples comments about the past and extrapolating an >awful lot from the. >Extrapolation is a logical crime and ought never be used for anything >more serious than the occassional decision that might head off an ice >cream truck that's getting away on a hot day. OK, I didn't quote a second post of yours in my reply but I thought it gave insight into your earlier post. You wrote in response to Charlie mentioning an existential threat to Western Europe by the USSR: <quote> Well, yeah, but that was pretty much decided during the Berlin airlift when Uncle Joe made the decision that the USSR didn't want to fight. All that followed after that showdown was just postering. <end quote> If all that followed that showdown was just posturing, then nothing that followed that showdown had any real meaning. Just posturing by another person, by another country is not in the least bit threatening. It's an empty gesture....pretty well by definition. It's only if the posturing is part of a pattern that may lead to aggression do we find a threat. In all fairness, I probably should have weaved a post that combined both posts to precisely point out the idea I was responding to. But, I had a five minute window open, and I took it. When I read a post, all I have is the words on the page, emotocons, and perhaps a history with another poster to indicate "I'm being a bit ironic here." If that's the case with your posts, then I didn't interpret them correctly. But, I clearly got the impression that you wrote that the Berlin Airlift was _the_ showdown of the Cold War, and anything following had little or no meaning. I would very much appreciate it if you would be kind enough to explain to me why this quote doesn't mean that what happened after the Berlin airlift was not a serious confrontation which had the potential to end badly. Finally, I always thought that totalitarian governments that had killed tens of millions of its own people and weapons that could reduce the population of the US by more than 80% as an existential threat. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
